Car coupler



Dec. 30, 1958 w. J. METZGER 2,865,560

CAR COUPLER Filed Aug. 16, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

WILL/AM J MEITZGER BY ATTORNEY Dec. 30, 1958 w MET-ZGER 2,866,560

CAR COUPLER Filed Aug. 16, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

M/ILL/AM J Msrzem BY ATTORNEY CAR COUPLER William J. Metager, East''Cleveland, Ohio, assignor to National Malleable and SteelCastingsCompany, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application August 16,1954, Serial'No. 449391 9 Claims. (Cl. 213-148) This invention pertainsto car couplers and more particularly to improved anti-creep means forthe lock of the coupler.

The invention'is directed to a railway car coupler having a pivotedknuckle and a generally vertically movable lock for holding the knucklein closed position. While the improvement is especially-applicable tothe A. A. R. (Association of American Railroads) bottom-operated,standard E coupler, it may also be incorporated in other couplers ofsimilar construction.

in the bottom-operated A. A. R. standard E coupler, anti-creep means isprovided for limiting undesired upward movement of the lock so as toavoid inadvertent unlocking of the knuckle. More specifically, thelocklifter link of the coupler i provided at its upper end with aforwardly extending anti-creep abutment which is adapted for engagementwith the underside of a rearwardly extending lug on the forward wall ofthe lock opening in the coupler head to limit undesired upward movementof the lock. Although this particular anticreep structure issatisfactory under ordinary service conditions, it is not adequate whenunusual service conditions are encountered, as for example, when'thecoupler is subjected to a combined end and vertical shock. Undercombined end and vertical shock, the lock is thrown forwardly andupwardly, while the upper end of the locklifter link is cammed upwardlyand rearwardly by the action of a trunnion on the link which is guidedin a slot in the lock leg. This causes the anti-creep abutment on thelifter link to move from beneath the lug in the lock opening, therebyrendering the lock anti-creep ineffective and allowing the lock to moveupwards out of locking position.

Therefore, it is a primary object of the invention to provide a carcoupler anti-creep means that is positive in operation under all serviceconditions.

An additional object of the invention is to provide coupler anti-creepmeans that is particularly effective when the coupler is subjected to acombined end and vertical shock.

A further object is to provide improved coupler anticreep means that isreadily interchangeable with the anti-creep means used in present carcouplers and which does not require any structural changes in thecoupler head or the lock.

A still further object of the invention is to provide anti-creep meansfor a car coupler that is positive in action under all serviceconditions yet in no way interferes with intentional coupler operation.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide in a car coupler alocklifter link having an anti-creep abutment thereon which projectsfurther forwardly than the anti-creep abutment on the present locklifterlink used in the standard E coupler.

Another specific object of the invention is to provide a locklifter l nkfor a car coupler having an anti-creep abutment t which is disposedlower in thecoupler.

States atentO 366,560 Patented Dec. 30, 1958 ICQ head than theanti-creep abutment on the locklifter-link now present in the standard Ecoupler.

The foregoing and other objects and advantages will become apparent fromthe following description taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, wherein:

Fig. l is a longitudinal vertical sectional view of a coupler embodyingthe invention, showing the parts in locked position.

.Fig. 2 is a fragmentary detail view of the coupler illustrated inFig. 1. showing the anti-creep engaged to preclude further upwardmovement ofthe lock. The lock has been shown in the position it assumesas the result of upward creeping movement or vertical shock-beingimparted to the coupler in service.

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view similar to Fig. 1, but illustratingthe relative positions assumed by the lock and its actuating mechanismduring preliminary operation of the coupler to intentionally unlock thesame.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentarydetail view similar to Fig. 2, but showing thetype of locklifter'link at present used in the A. A. R. standard Ecoupler, the lock being shown in the position it assumes as the resultof upward creeping movement or vertical shock being imparted to thecoupler in service.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary vertical sectional View of the coupler shown inFig. 1, showing the improved anti-creep in functioning positionfollowing the application of a combined end and vertical shock to thecoupler.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view similar to Fig.4 showing thepresent locklifter link usedin the A. A. R. standard E coupler andillustrating the disengagement of the anti-creep when the coupler'issubjected tocombined end and vertical shock.

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary vertical sectionalview of the coupler shown inFig. l, the improved anti-creep having been moved out of active positionbyintenti-onal actuation of the rotor lever.

Fig. 8 is a detail side elevational view of a locklifter link embodyingthe invention. 'For purposes of comparison, this view also shows indot-dash the locklifter link in use at'present'in the A. A. R. standardE coupler.

' Fig.9 is a top plan view of a locklifter linkembodying the invention.

Referring to the drawings, the coupler comprises a head 10 and a knuckle12, which is pivotally connected to the head by means of the usual pivotpin 14. The knuckle comprises a tail portion 16 which, when the knuckleis in closed position, extends into a chamber 18 in the coupler head.Tail 16 is formed with a vertical lock engaging face 20 and a laterallyextending projection or shelf 22. The knuckle is held in closed positionby a substantially vertically movable lock 24, which in locked positionrests on shelf 22 and on knuckle thrower 26. In this position the lockalso engages face 20 on the knuckle tail and the adjacent side wall ofthe coupler head.

A chamber 28 is provided in the coupler head above the lock 24 forreceiving the lock during lifting thereof out of locking relationshipwith the knuckle to permit opening of the latter. The lock has adepending portion or leg 30 which extends downwardly into opening 32 inthe lower portion of the coupler head when the lock is in lockingposition. Leg 30 is swingable in a longitudinal direction when sodisposed in opening 32.

Lock 24 is actuated by means of a locklifter mechanism which includes alocklifter link 34, rotor lever 36 and an uncoupling rod (not shown).Link member 34 (Fig. 8) comprises a shank portion 37 having a forwardlyextending anti-creep shoulder 38 disposed at the upper end thereof.Shoulder 38 has a top abutment surface 38a which slopes downwardly in aforward direction and which is adapted for engagement with the undersideof anti-creep lug 40 on forward wall 42 of opening 32 to limit upwardmovement of lock 24 in the event that it should creep or accidentallybounce upwardly in service. Link 34 is pivotally and slidably connectedat its upper end to the lock leg by means of trunnion 44 which isreceived in an upwardly and rearwardly sloping slot 46 in the lowerportion of leg 30. It will be noted that the abutment surface 38:: onshoulder 38 slopes downwardly relative to a horizontal plane containingthe transverse center line or axis of trunnion 44, commencingsubstantially at said axis. 6

When lock leg of lock 24 extends downwardly into opening 32 andlocklifter link 34 is in reposed position, as shown in Fig. 1, theforward extremity of surface 38a extends forwardly beyond the forwardextremity of the lock leg and may also extend forwardly beyond theforward extremity of the underside abutment surface on anti-creep lug40. The lower end of link 34 comprises an eye portion 47 which ispivotally connected to bifurcated forwardly extending portion 48 ofrotor lever 36 by means of rivet 50. The rearward end of rotor lever 36has a hook portion 52 by means of which the lever is pivotally connectedto cylindrical support 54 formed on the underside of the coupler head.It will be understood that the usual uncoupling rod (not shown) isconnected to the rotor lever for actuation of the same.

Operation of the parts to efiect intentional uncoupling of the couplerwill now be described. Starting with the coupler parts in normal lockedposition, as seen in Fig. 1, actuation of the uncoupling rod (not shown)causes rotor lever 36 to pivot in a clockwise direction. The initialrotation of lever 36 moves the lower end of locklifter link 34 forwardlyand upwardly, and simultaneously therewith causes trunnion 44 to moverearwardly and upwardly to the upper end of slot 46 in the lock leg, asseen in Fig. 3. It will be observed that during this movement link 34not only pivots about trunnion 44, but is cammed upwardly and rearwardlyrelative to lug through the action of slot 46. Thus, for a given amountof rotation of rotor lever 36, a substantial rearward withdrawal ofshoulder 38 is effected but as seen in Fig. 3, shoulder 38 is not atthis point clear of lug 40. Upon further rotation of rotor lever 36 fromthe position shown 6 in Fig. 3, leg 30 is forced rearwardly and upwardlyuntil it contacts rear wall 56 of opening 32, as shown in Fig. 7, inwhich position shoulder 38 is clear of lug 40. Continued rotation oflever 36 from its position in Fig. 7 forces lock 24 upwards to aposition in which it is out of locking relation to the knuckle.

It has been found that the locklifter link now in use in the A. A. R.standard E coupler forms an effective anti-creep only under certainoperating conditions. Fig.

4 illustrates the action of that link when the coupler is subjected tothe condition in which the lock has been moved bodily upwardly by avertical impact until the anti-creep shoulder on the lifter link engagesthe anticreep lug on the coupler head to prevent further upward movementof the lock. It will be noted that lock leg 30 in Fig. 4 is in contactwith rear wall 56 and, at the same time, trunnion 44 is disposed at thelower end of slot 46. With theparts in this position, positiveengagement between anti-creep shoulder 38 on the lifter link and theanti-creep lug 40 on the coupler head is established, and further upwardmovement of lock 24 is precluded.

However, uncouplings have resulted when a coupler embodying thepresently used locklifter link 'is subjected to a combined end andvertical shock, as for example when the cars bounce on a switch orcross-over and the train surges lengthwise simultaneously, or during arunin of slack between cars having drooped couplers. The

6 position of l the coupler parts under these conditions is illustratedin Fig. 6. The end shock causes lock leg 30 to move forwardly intoengagement with forward wall 42, if it was not already in that positionand also causes rotor lever 36 to rotate in a clockwise manner, whichmoves trunnion 44' of link 34' to the upper end of slot 46 in lock leg30. The vertical shock results in the lock and the locklifter link 34moving directly upwards as a unit. It will be apparent that abutment 38has been withdrawn from beneath lug 40 on the coupler head and the lockis free to move upwardly to a position in which the knuckle is unlocked.It will be noted from Fig. 6 that the anti-creep is inoperative whenevertrunnion 44 on the locklifter link is disposed in the upper end of slot46 in the lock leg even though leg 30 is positioned forwardly in opening32.

The invention corrects the above-mentioned defect in the action of thepresent locklifter link by providing a novel link having an anti-creepshoulder that is positive in action and will form an effectiveanti-creep under all conditions of service to which couplers aresubjected. More specifically, the anti-creep shoulder on the locklifterlink has been extended forwardly a greater amount than the anti-creepshoulder on the lifter link persently used in the A. A. R. standard Ecoupler. In addition, the top abutment surface of the shoulder has beenpositioned below the level of the abutment surface on the anti-creepshoulder of the presently used link and this surface has been slopeddownwardly in a forward direction. Fig. 8 clearly shows the differencein structure between the present lccklifter link, as used in thestandard E coupler and the locklifter link embodying the invention, thestandard link being shown in dot-dash.

Referring again to Fig. 6 which illustrates the locklifterlink currentlyused in the A. A. R. standard E coupler, it will be noted that abutment38' on the link and lug 40 on the coupler head narrowly miss engagement.It is apparent that engagement would be assured if abutment 38' wereextended substantially forwardly from that shown. However, if such anextension of the anti-creep shoulder on the link 34 were made, therewould arise the problem of avoiding functioning of the anti-creep duringintentional uncoupling, particularly so during a fast uncouplingoperation. In other words, rapid initial operation of the uncouplingmechanism so disposes the parts that locklifter link trunnion 44 ispositioned at the top of lock leg slot 46, as shown in Fig. 3. At thisinstant lock leg 30 has not yet been moved from its forward position inlock leg opening 32. The moment trunnion 44 contacts the top of slot 46,it begins to exert a combined upward and rearward force against lock leg30. However, since the upward force component substantially exceeds therearward force component, leg 30 travels upwardly substantially fasterthan it does rearwardly and abutment 38 does not clear lug 40. Thus,merely extending the anti-creep shoulder forwardly on the presentlocklifter link would produce an inoperative device during rapidoperation of the uncoupling mechanism because lock leg 30 would not bedisposed sufficiently rearwardly to prevent engagement between the linkanti-creep shoulder 38 and coupler head lug 40 by the time the shoulderreached the level of the underside of the lug. Anti-creep engagementcould only be averted if leg 30 were disposed further rearwardly inopening 32 the instant the abutment surface on the link shoulder islevel with the underside of lug 40.

Therefore, in accordance with the invention, the anticreep shoulder onthe lifter link has not only been extended a substantial amountforwardly, but the top abutment surface 38:: of the shoulder has beenmaterially lowered so as to allow more time for the shoulder to move outfrom under lug 40 during a fast uncoupling operation. During this extratime interval, trunnion 44 on the lifter link 34 forces lock leg 30further rearwardly in opening 32 with the result that by the timeshoulder 38 reaches the level of lug 40 it is disposed sufficientlyrearwardly that engagement between the shoulder and lug is averted.

Accordingly, the invention assures that anti-creep engagement will beeffected even though the shock applied to the coupler moves trunnion 44to the upper end of slot 46 and moves lock leg 30 forwardly in opening32, as shown in Fig. 5. Such position of the parts may occur wheneverthe coupler is subjected to combined end and vertical shock. It will benoted from Fig. 5 that when trunnion is disposed at the upper end ofslot 46 abutment surface 3dr: on anti-creep shoulder 38 extendssubstantially as far forwardly as does the lower end of slot 46 in thelock leg.

The abutment surface 38a on the anti-creep shoulder of the lifter link34 has been sloped downwardly in a forward direction from a horizontalplane passing through the axis of trunnion 44. Surface 38a commencesapproximately along a line forming a continuation of the axis oftrunnion 44. This lowers the entire surface 38a relative to lug 4t andin particular substantially lowers the forward portion of this surfaceso that it has sufiicient time to clear lug 40 during intentionalactuation of the uncoupling mechanism to move the lock out of lockingposition.

To assist in tipping link 34 rearwardly during the time trunnion 44 istravelling up slot 46 and therefore diminish the possibility of trunnion44 binding on the upper surface of slot 46, the link has beencounterweighted along its rearward side as at 6i) in Fig. 8.

The invention also provides a more positive anti-creep protection whenthe coupler is subjected to the more usual service conditions duringwhich the lock may creep slowly upwardly or may be thrown upwardly byvertical shocks. This is apparent from a comparison of the anti-creeppositions shown in Figs. 2 and 4. It will be noted that there issubstantially more overlap between shoulder 38 and lug 4i) in Fig. 2,which shows a coupler incorporating the invention, than there is betweenthe corresponding parts in Fig. 4 wherein is shown the locklifter linkthat is currently used in the A. A. R. standard E coupler. Furthermore,in present car couplers, manufacturing tolerances produce considerablevariation in the amount of overlap obtained between the locklifteranticreep shoulder and the anti-creep lug on the coupler head.Considering only the tolerance permitted by gaging practice, it ispossible to obtain as little as overlap 1n existing couplers. With theinvention wherein the anti-creep shoulder is extended substantiallyforwardly, the minimum overlap has been increased to As will be seenfrom Figs. 1, 3, and 7, the invention in no way interferes withintentional unlocking of the knuckle as by actuation of the uncouplingrod. More particularly, in Fig. 7, which shows the critical condition onintentional uncoupling, wherein abutment 38 approaches the level of lug40, it will be seen that a material separation exists between theseparts, thereby ensuring positive disengagement of the anti-creep.

The terms and expressions which I have employed are used as terms ofdescription and not of limitation, and I have no intention, in the useof such terms and expressions, of excluding any equivalents of thefeatures shown and described or portions thereof, but recognize thatvarious modifications are possible within the scope of the inventionclaimed.

What I claim is:

1. A car coupler comprising a head, a knuckle pivoted to said head, alock in said head for maintaining said knuckle in closed position, saidlock having a downwardly extending leg, said head having an opening forreceiving said leg, said leg having clearance between the front and rearwalls of said opening to allow forward and rearward displacement of saidleg, a locklifter link operatively connected to said leg, and a rotorlever pivoted to said head and being pivotally connected to said link,said head having an abutment on the front wall of said opening, saidlink having a shoulder underlying said abutment when the lock is inlocking position and link and lever are in reposed position, said linkhaving a trunnion extending into an upwardly and rearwardly sloping slotin said leg, said link being movable to a position in which saidtrunnion is disposed in the upper end of said slot, said shoulder whensaid lock leg is in engagement with the forward wall of said opening andsaid trunnion is in said last-mentioned position being partly withdrawnfrom beneath said abutment, said shoulder having a downwardly andforwardly sloping top surface for providing suflicient clearance betweensaid abutment and said shoulder upon actuation of said lever tocompletely withdraw said shoulder from beneath said abutment duringintentional unlocking of the coupler.

2. A car coupler in accordance with claim 1 in which said top surface ofthe shoulder on said link extends from a horizontal plane passingthrough the axis of said trunnion.

3. A car coupler in accordance with claim 1 in which the top surface ofthe shoulder on said link is disposed below a horizontal plane extendingthrough the axis of said trunnion.

4. In a car coupler having a head, a knuckle mounted for pivotalmovement in said head, a movable lock for maintaining said knuckle inclosed position, said lock having a leg extending downwardly into anopening in said head, an anti-creep lug on the forward wall of saidopening, said leg being swingable in a forward and rearward direction insaid opening, a locklifter link operatively connected to said leg, saidlink having a trunnion extending through an elongated, upwardly andrearwardly extending slot in said leg, said trunnion occupying the lowerend of said slot when the parts are in reposed position, said linkhaving a forwardly extending anticreep abutment, said abutmentunderlying said lug to limit undesired upward movement of said lock whensaid trunnion is caused to occupy the upper end of said slot and saidleg is disposed against the forward wall in said opening, said abutmenthaving a downwardly and forwardly sloping top surface to providesufficient clearance between said lug and the forward end of saidabutment to ensure complete withdrawal of said abutment from beneathsaid lug during intentional unlocking of the coupler.

5. A locklifter link for a car coupler, comprising a shank portion, ahorizontal trunnion disposed near the upper end of said shank portionand extending laterally therefrom, and an anti-creep shoulder extendingforwardly of said trunnion and having a top abutment surface which isdisposed generally below a horizontal plane passing through the axis ofsaid trunnion.

6. A locklifter link in accordance with claim 5 in which said abutmentsurface slopes downwardly in a forward direction commencingsubstantially at a line coinciding with the axis of said trunnion.

7. A car coupler in accordance with claim 1 in which said locklifterlink is counterweighted on its rearward side to facilitate movement ofsaid trunnion to the 7 upper end of the slot in the lock upon actuationof said lever to unlock the coupler.

8. A car coupler in accordance with claim 1, wherein said top surface ofsaid shoulder extends generally forwardly beyond the forward extremityof said lock leg when said link is in said reposed position in thecoupler.

9. A car coupler in accordance with claim 4, wherein said top surfaceextends forwardly to substantially the forward extremity of said slotwhen said trunnion is caused to occupy said upper end of said slot.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTSGermany June 9, 1933

